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Mayor: Response to Austintown on water rates wasn’t complete
TweetBy Elise Franco
Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
Austintown Trustee Lisa Oles
BOARDMAN — Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams says the city’s response to Austintown Township’s request for details on water rates, infrastructure improvements and grant funding was sent prematurely.
Williams said a letter sent to Austintown by city Law Director Dan Pribich — after a public-records request by the township — wasn’t complete and shouldn’t have been sent.
“That response doesn’t accurately reflect the city’s position,” Williams said in an interview Tuesday. “It failed to include additional information that is being prepared by the water department.”
Williams said this occurred because of a miscommunication with the law department, but the completed response will be ready by next week.
It’s untrue that the city hasn’t applied for stimulus or grant money for water projects, he said. “The city of Youngstown has received, in the past, funding from a variety of sources.”
The specifics will be addressed in the full response to Austintown, Williams said.
Austintown Trustee Lisa Oles said she stands by her position that the city acknowledged not having applied for grants.
“I think his law department and water department need to get on the same page,” she said.
Portions of Austintown, Boardman and Canfield townships pay a surcharge for water supplied by the city.
Members of the townships’ recently formed ABC Water District met Tuesday at the Boardman Township Government Center. The session was focused on planning and organization to help get the district, which was formed primarily to alleviate storm-water and flooding issues, up and running.
Oles has said she’d like to see conversation among the ABC district trustees about using the district to supply water to residents.
Dan Bienko, district chairman and Canfield Township’s representative, said that the possibility of supplying water could be addressed in the future.
“The issues with the Youngstown water are going to be a part of our work,” he said. “Whatever we do will be in cooperation with all three townships.”
John Albers, of Albers and Albers Law Firm in Columbus, told the board members they need to first decide how they’re going to get start-up funding. He said the most common way is to ask for grants or loans from each of the townships involved.
Mike Dockry, board member and Austintown administrator; and Jason Loree, board member and Boardman administrator, both said they plan to discuss that option with their respective township trustees.
Once the district is funded, the board must prioritize projects. Bienko said as a district, it likely will be able to secure grant money for projects that individual townships couldn’t.
“We’ll have more clout and more access to grant money than a single township would,” he said. “We can help the townships get money for projects.”
efranco@vindy.com
Comments
Just like the regional application for the federal funds to tear down abandoned homes, this water response was incomplete? Youngstown city employees doesn't know how to fill out applications or write complete letters. I don't believe you Mayor Jay. You are reacting to A-towns objections. The ABC water district is the best answer to your enterprise revenue raising attempt on the backs of suburbanites. Your people are over paid and too dumb to handle management dutires bottom line and that my friend reflects on you and your judgement.
lombardo only wants annexation and regionalization so that they burbs are forced to take care of the poorly managed city. Take care of yourselves first, then worry about everyone else.
I have lived in A-town and Y-town. The LAST thing residents of A-town want to do is become part of Y-town. Get your water from rain barrels if you have to, but don't become part of Y-town.
The last thing that Ytown wants is a bunch of racist country-in-the-city whites as part of the city anyway. Good riddance to racist white trash. Tax them to high hell. Maybe they'll move even further away. That would be excellent.
My comment wasn't in referral to other comments. It was in reference to what I know of Austintown in general. Sure, not everyone, but enough to know that, as a white person myself, I wouldn't want to be associated with the general temperament toward non-white people--particularly African Americans-- that I have witnessed there.
Perhaps the reason that the levy failed was not that the people of Austintown do not want to supprot the school kids, But because of Economic reasons. Too many people are out of work and can not afford to pay more taxes period. This applies to the whole area.
This ABC water district has nothing to do with water. Installing a distribution system will bankrupt all three townships. I have news for you the reason that Youngstown hasn't applied for the amount of grants that Oles thinks is adequate is very simple....THERE AREN'T ANY!! There are plenty of loans to apply for but very few grants. If ABC is planning on using public grants to fund a water distribution system they are living in a fantasy world. They have ZERO chance of getting the slim amount of grants that are available if what they want to put in is a duplicate system. Oles is making some crazy statements for not knowing her a## from a hole in the ground. If you are going to go on record with crazy statements about grants you better do your homework first. Read the paper, all of the stimulus funds youngstown got for the sewer work, another enterprise fund that the EPA does not typically give grants to, were for the most part loans. This is all just political grand standing on Atowns part, in the end they will pay it caues they have to. They should have taken the sweetheart JEDD agreement Youngstown offered them. It was win win all around. They didn't, now they will pay the increase.
Talk about a waste of money, I wouldn't support any governor that helped secure money for a water distribution system for townships that already have a perfectly good one. It all comes down to votes, An ABC water district will never happen with public money. Time for A, B and C to get their knees and start doing personal favors!
Aqua Ohio has already confirmed that it will buy and take over or duplicate the current water lines if need be. The costs would be distributed throughout Aqua Ohio's entire Ohio customer base, not just the local townships. These things have been thought of and considered already.
Lombardo, you sound as if you work for the Ytwon water company. Your comments are extremely arrogant and lack substance. Every other word you spew is annexation. Did you forget that Mayor Williams blew over 100k researching who actually owns the water lines and IF Youngstown would be able to annex? That was over two years ago and not one news release as to the findings??? That should tell you something right there.
In case you still don't get it, Youngstown operates and maintains the water lines in ABC areas but there are many officials and attorneys who argue that either the townships or the county actually own the lines that were installed decades ago.
I would bet that IF Youngstown actually owned the water lines, Mayor Williams would not keep that a secret.
Hey Lombardo, are you done? You won't change anything. If A,B and C want the lines they will simply take them via legal means and there is nothing you will be able to do about it. The People of A,B and C I'm sure would rather pay a small township or district tax than give money to a bunch of screwups who can't fill out a form. We pay a 40% surcharge on our bills already and apparently that wasn't enough. Whine and complain about the snobby burbs all you want, If the people of A, B, and C vote to pay more and to take the lines under our streets from you and route water from AquaOhio, we will. And you can go to you know where. Youngstown can find it's budget money somewhere else.
As far as Annexation goes, good luck with that, you take our property, and the normal folks and businesses will leave. You will be left with more empty houses that will no doubt become crack/crime infested since the ones in the yo are falling down or boarded up. What a beautiful opportunity for your criminals to get close to the businesses they like to come steal from! Now they can live within walking distance! How will you justify taking more property when you can't control the goings on in the current city limits? Explain why our courts fill every week with more Youngstown residents than township residents. Perhaps thats why I have a bad opinion of your city and want nothing to do with it.
Bottom line, our townships are cleaner because we take care of them. You should try the same and perhaps you won't have to take more land you cannot possibly police.
You said Youngstown has deep pockets.
That's priceless.
Wendy Webb must have taught you math.
And for the record, our "slum" hasn't had eight murders this year.
Your deep pockets comment made me think twice about your level of education, but the fact that you think that a 100% water surcharge fund can be spent on anything but the upkeep of the sewer and water lines really nails it. You are an idiot sir, and I can't say that enough. I refuse to argue with someone as simple minded as you, and hope that you can kick whatever habit gave you this much brain damage. When your slush fund is exposed and cut off in a few years by ABC taking control of their lines, I hope you are within earshot when I laugh uncontrollaby at your moronic claims. I'm done here.
"Youngstown has deeper pockets for a prolonged legal battle than ABC"
---YOUNGSTOWN IS IN THE RED
"Youngstown's pockets will get a lot deeper once the surcharge is raised to 100%."
---MONEY CAN ONLY BE USED FOR SEWER/WATER LINE UPKEEP/IMPROVEMENT
"I never said that the surcharge could be used for anything other than maintaining the water lines. "
----YEA, YOU KINDA DID
"I'm stacked."
---- SURE YOU ARE......
" I could care less what happens to your filthy, mob-infested county. It would however be much nicer if it could all be made into a ghetto. Then at least African-Americans and the other racial groups that the filthy pigs who run this area discriminate against will get their justice."
---HAHA.
SUMMARY
People get so mad when you call them out for being idiots and then use their own words to hang them with.
They instantly brag about being "stacked" , degrade the person/township making the valid point, and get generally pissy because they know they make no sense. Then they wish those people/townships become victims of crime. NICE
Boardmanneedschange, "Possession is 9/10ths of the law. Since those water lines are in Austintown, Canfield and Boardman, I am pretty sure that Youngstown would have a pretty hard time claiming ownership of them. "
So by your logic Boardman can lay claim to First Energy's power lines, Dominions gas lines, and Armstrong's FOC. They can purchase the lines....for a price...current rough estimates put that number at around $200 million. The county prosecuter has already issued an opinion that the lines belong to Youngstown. The burden of proof now lies on the townships to offer anything to the contrary. Oh and if in the end it is found that Younstown does own the waterlines, which we all know is the case, I encourage all of you to read what this case law outlines.....
http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/PIO/sum...
You can see what the City's next step is right? There really isn't anything left to discuss is there? ;-)
Ummm Mcluvin? I didn't write that. Sotired did. Change your name to McICantRead
Sorry. My bad. I don't think that it is so much a function of my ability to read then my ability to tell one uninformed blowhard from another on this website.However, it doesn't change the fact that Boardman and Austintown are both getting annexed into Youngstown in Jay's second term. : )
Let Aqua install another system so consumers will have a choice.